E3 2017: How Xbox One X Improves Crackdown 3

Crackdown 3 will leverage the power of the Xbox One X in a number of ways, according to Microsoft and the developers on the team. Speaking to GameSpot at E3, executive producer Peter Connelly said the open-world action game will run better on the super-powerful console, delivering longer draw distances and an overall better level of detail.

"Crackdown 3 will play better on Xbox One X and feature increased level of detail at greater distances with crisper, higher texture fidelity in immersive, true 4K, HDR, wide color gamut, and spatial audio, Dolby Atmos," Connelly explained.

Appearing on GameSpot's own stage show on June 14, the developers told us even more about what the Xbox One X does for Crackdown 3. "When you see this in 4K, with all the explosions, with all that bombastic, crazy action and living, graphic novel-style," they said. "I think it's amazing on Xbox One X, but also playing on Xbox One S, on Xbox One, on Windows 10. It was important for us as well to have cross-play across those devices."

The developers also told us that Crackdown 3 was designed from the start to be an Xbox Play Anywhere title, so they always wanted to make sure that the features between Xbox One and PC were "roughly comparable."

Also in our interview, developers said Crackdown 3's map is about 2.5 times the size of the original game's playable space. They also clarified that Crackdown 3's heavily touted use of Microsoft's Azure cloud servers is for the head-to-head multiplayer, while the campaign and co-op campaign do not leverage that technology.

The Xbox One X launches on November 7, priced at $500, £449, €499, CA$599, and AU$649. Some analysts said this week that they believe that price point is too high and claimed it might impact the console's ability to reach a wide audience. For even more on Xbox One X, check out GameSpot's in-depth video interview with Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

Crackdown 3 launches alongside the Xbox One X on November, and it also plays on Xbox One. All Xbox One games are playable on Xbox One X. GameSpot saw a new demo of the game today and it definitely still resembles its predecessors, featuring stylized visuals and incredibly over-the-top gameplay where you can throw cars and jump higher than any human could.

The city where Crackdown 3 is set sits atop a volcano, and the the thermal energy from it is an important resource in the game, developers say, though it's not exactly clear why at this point. Here are some other things we learned from our Crackdown 3 demo today:

There is Black Hole Gun that sucks everything toward it, destroying everything. Some of the developers think the weapon is overpowered.
The map shows the entire city, highlighting areas that you have uncovered. Once you eliminate all hostiles, the map shows it as being controlled by you.
Overtaking enemy camps gives you access to their weapons. For example, after taking an enemy camp outfitted with a turret, it becomes yours, targeting enemies for you.
The developers stress that "all games are different" because Crackdown 3 responds to how you play and the choices you make.
Terry Crews is actually in Crackdown 3 and you can play as him.
We asked if a beta is still planned for Crackdown 3, but the developers said they could not answer that.
Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference brought news about the Xbox One X, Forza 7, and Playerunknown's Battlegrounds. For more, check out our E3 hub for all of our event coverage.